The Flash games that are sweeping the internet are, in many cases, a come-back of other, older games that many of us loved and played from the time we could hold that joystick. You’re not required to use one of those these days, with flash game mania literally sweeping the world.

What are the top 3 flash games of all time? That depends of course on who you’re asking. Everyone has their personal favorites but some seem to really stand out in nearly every list that you’re going to find on the internet. Flash games are popular there is no getting around it but some are more than popular, they are literally a craze.

The top three flash games of all time, according to the experts (who may or may not have lost jobs over them) are these:

Bejeweled- switching the places of the various gems you make rows, columns, or parcels of gemstones that match, which removes them from the playing grid. They are replaced by other gems. The difficultly rises as the game progresses. Many of us played this on our PC in recent years, but the advent of the online flash game makes it even harder to get away from.

According to the experts at CNET, Chingam is the second most addictive game online and we’re inclined to agree. While no one seems to know where this one came from it certainly qualifies as addictive.

Number three has to be Desktop Tower Defense. The addictiveness level is extremely high because its a way to relieve your frustrations as you’re defending your tower while safely sitting on your sofa or at your desk.

The industrial age is upon us and the time is ripe to show the world who is the greatest railroad baron in Ticket To Ride, the rail-building strategy board game. Use your resources and locomotives to connect the many cities on the map and build the greatest railway empire in the country. Build extensive and exclusive networks and fulfil city connection contracts before the other players. Strive to become the top dog in the industry and defeat the competition!

Ticket to Ride is a strategy board game by designer Alan R. Moon and is based on the railway theme. It was published in 2004 and won the Spiel des Jahres and Origins awards the same year. The game has an engaging theme and game play, and has an elegant simplicity. This has made it very popular and easy for players to pick up. It is considered one of the best ‘gateway’ games to introduce new players to the world of strategy board games, introducing key strategy concepts while keeping the game play and rules very simple.

The premise of Ticket to Ride is pretty straightforward: a bunch of railroad barons are racing to connect the many cities in the country by rail, and the winner is the player who creates the greatest rail network. How well you do is measured in victory points, which you earn by building individual city-to-city rail lines, by completing specific cross-country connections, and by fulfilling other goals (depending on which version and/or expansion of the game you are playing).

In the game, each city on the map is connected to at least one other city via one or more potential rail lines. These lines represent where you can build your railway, and range from a short 1-track to a long 6-track line. These lines also have a color code, which determine which specific types of rail can be built on it. There are 8 line colors representing 8 different rail types, and gray lines which allow any rail type to be built on it. Once a player builds a railway on a line, no other player can do so.

So how do you build your railway tracks? The tracks are represented by colored cards that you play from hand. Cards are taken from the deck, of which a handful of them are visible for you to choose. During your turn, you can take cards from either the visible ones or randomly from the top of the deck, or you can use the cards to build a rail connection. Building a connection is essentially a color-matching exercise. You will need to match the color and length of a rail line with cards in your hand in order to build on that line. For example, the Atlanta-Miami line is blue and 5 tracks long. This means you will need to discard 5 blue cards from your hand in order to build it. There are also powerful wild card cards that can be used to represent any color.

Building tracks will earn you victory points in 2 ways. The moment you place a new railway linking 2 cities, you earn points based on the length of the line. Longer lines are rewarded more: you earn 2 points for a 2-track line, 7 points for a 4-track line, and a whopping 15 points for a 6-track line. This system encourages you to collect large sets of cards of the same color in order to build longer and more rewarding tracks.

The second way of earning points is via fulfilling city connections on destination cards. At the start of the game, you get to choose destination cards from a handful that are randomly drawn from the deck. These destination cards represent city connections that you need to fulfil, and can range from short connections like the Denver-Chicago line, or long ones like the Seattle-Houston line. Successfully connecting the cities on a destination card using only your own tracks will award you bonus points at the end of the game. A short line might net you an extra 5 points, while a transcontinental line could give you 15 or more points. At any time during the game, you can use an action to draw more destination cards.

There is a drawback to these destination cards though: if you fail to connect the cities on your card, you lose the card’s bonus points instead of gaining it! Since every player will be trying to fulfil their destination card routes and will be crisscrossing the map with their tracks, it is very easy to have someone else block your connection and prevent you from fulfilling your destination card. The game therefore boils down to a race to connect the more popular central lines, while figuring out what connections your opponents are trying to make, and hopefully block them. Once the game ends (which happens when any player nearly runs out of train car tokens), destination cards (both fulfilled and unfulfilled) are revealed and victory points are tallied.

While the base Ticket to Ride is a great game in its own right, it has been improved by the various versions and expansions. The Europe, Marklin and Nordic Countries versions have extra boards featuring the maps of Europe, Germany and Scandinavia respectively. They also introduce new game play mechanics. The Europe game introduces ‘train stations’ that allow you to use other players’ tracks, while the Marklin game introduces the mechanic of transporting passengers across the map to gain victory points. The USA 1910 expansion introduces 3 new ways to play the game and includes a new method of gaining bonus points. There are other expansions, including a Dice expansion that replaces the card-drawing with dice-rolling.

Ticket to Ride is a simple and fun game that is easily taught and can be finished in under an hour. As mentioned previously, it is a great gateway game that introduces new players to the concept of the German-style strategy board game. It is also an exciting and competitive game as players race to connect cities and block their opponents. Ticket To Ride is ideal for you if you are new to strategy board games or prefer games that are fun yet do not require too much strategizing or planning.

When it comes to the best past-times both for kids and adults, board games take quite a huge slice of the cake. Game boards are definitely one of the most enjoyable past-times. Aside from entertaining people, this type of game also help build knowledge and values. You see, unlike the digital games of today, board related games stimulate the mind more, enhancing one’s logic and decision-making skills regardless of one’s age. There are also other benefits to playing game boards. The most important skills it teaches, ones that video games cannot teach, are communication and social skills. Moreover, here are some examples of what you can learn from board games:

• Board games enhance one’s intellect. Unlike with the digital games of today, with classic board toy games, you really have to use your brain constantly in order to win. Some of it do employ the element of luck in the game play, but you still need to strategize to win;

• It develop certain skill sets. Depending on what game you play, vintage board games can help you develop your skills. Here are some examples:

o Scrabble can help you improve your vocabulary;
o Monopoly can help you hone your money-handling skills;
o Clue can help you hone your deductive reasoning and logic;

• This type of game help social units bond. Unlike with modern games where you play alone, or if you do play with others, you only play over a digital network, board games often require you to play with other people, in person. You can invite family members, friends or workmates to play with you, and in the end, help you to becoming a more solid unit as you bond over a game or two.

As you can see, playing vintage board games can be quite educational. Plus, doing so can help you develop other skills aside from intellect. It is sad that these types of games are no longer as popular as they were in the past. Fortunately, people still have the opportunity to own a piece of the past. One can collect vintage board games easily. You just have to know where to look. Moreover, there are many enthusiasts who collect and sell old board games.

So why collect vintage board games? Aside from having a set of fun educational materials ready and on hand, there are also other benefits to collecting game boards. As mentioned above, collectors can sell their game boards when they become in demand. If a board toy game you own becomes a collector’s item, owning it would be like having an investment. The rarer an item gets, the more money you can sell it for. If you get lucky, you may be able to sell your rare board games to other collectors for double the price, or even more!

There are other ways of profiting from a collection of vintage board games. As long as you take care of your collection and keep it in good shape, you should be able to make a good amount of money from it in due time. To know more about this hobby and how to profit from collecting game boards, read up on the topic. Find a good resource that can help you be familiar with the dos and don’ts of this hobby.